Tropical Campfires (1992)

  1. “Yellow Butterfly” (Nesmith) (5:19)
  2. “Laugh Kills Lonesome” (Nesmith) (4:10)
  3. “Moon Over the Rio Grande” (Nesmith) (5:57)
  4. “One…” (Nesmith) (5:19)
  5. “Juliana” (Nesmith) (6:08)
  6. “Brazil” (Barroso) (5:35)
  7. “In the Still of the Night” (Porter) (3:08)
  8. “Rising in Love” (Nesmith) (4:42)
  9. “Begin the Beguine” (Porter) (5:17)
  10. “I Am Not That” (Nesmith) (2:44)
  11. “…For the Island” (Nesmith) (5:17)
  12. “Twilight on the Trail” (Nesmith) (4:27)

The rain falls through Chicago skies
People stare and wonder why
And somewhere sails a yellow butterfly

A jaguar circles in the night
The jungle glistens by moonlight
And somewhere sails a yellow butterfly

All in all in all in all
Like an island waterfall
Days and nights revolve around
Her flying, silent sound

Mother wakes and father turns
A candle flame surreally burns
And somewhere sails a yellow butterfly

[break]

All in all in all in all
Like an island waterfall
Days and nights revolve around
Her flying, silent sound

Mother wakes and father turns
A candle flame surreally burns
And somewhere sails a yellow butterfly
A yellow butterfly
A yellow butterfly
A yellow butterfly

Track: 1

Length: 5:19

Writers:

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All around the campfire stood
Seven dusty men
The cook was drinking applejack
The cattle were all penned
Someone must have cracked a wise one
Because the men began to grin
Their smiles shot out like sunbeams
And made the night give in
Because

Laugh kills lonesome
Every single time
That’s why Charlie Russell painted it
And why it looks so fine
Laugh kills lonesome
Every single time

Roy and Dale and Pecos Bill
They knew all about this
And so did Walt and uh, Hasui
Who gave it their own twist
Sometimes when things can’t get much worse
And life’s become a fist
Someone will crack a wise
And laughter works like this, huh-huh

Laugh kills lonesome
Every single time
That’s why Charlie Russell painted it
And why it looks so fine
Laugh kills lonesome
Every single time

[break]

Laugh kills lonesome
Every single time
That’s why Charlie Russell painted it in the first place
And why it looks so fine
Laugh kills lonesome
Every single time

Laugh kills lonesome
Laugh kills lonesome
Laugh kills lonesome
Every single time

Track: 2

Length: 4:10

Writers:

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I want to watch the moon rise
Over the Rio Grande
Stand in contemplation
Hand in gentle hand
Breathing the beauty
Of the pink and purple land
High on the inspiration
Of the moon
Over the Rio Grande

The endless desperation
Of deadline after deadline
The constant agitation
Of the headlines of the play
Brings the inclination
To make a little free time
And watch nature’s message
As she goes about her day

So I want to watch the moon rise
Over the Rio Grande
Stand in contemplation
Hand in gentle hand
Breathing the beauty
Of the pink and purple land
High on the inspiration
Of the moon
Over the Rio Grande

So many conversations
Simply have no meaning
The failed communications
Fall upon the floor
There’s something in the spirit
Of the language of the land
The eloquent precision
Nothing less and nothing more

So I want to watch the moon rise
Over the Rio Grande
Stand in contemplation
Hand in gentle hand
Breathing the beauty
Of the pink and purple land
High on the inspiration
Of the moon
Over the Rio Grande

[break]

I want to watch the moon rise
Over the Rio Grande
Stand in contemplation
Hand in gentle hand
Breathing the beauty
Of the pink and purple land
High on the inspiration
Of the moon
Over the Rio Grande
High on the inspiration
Of the moon
High on the inspiration
Of the moon
High on the inspiration
Of the moon
Over the Rio Grande

Track: 3

Length: 5:57

Writers:

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[instrumental]

One (One (One))
One (One (One))

Track: 4

Length: 5:19

Writers:

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In the morning
When the sun is a lonely light just over the hill
When the world is awake, and yet all things are still
My thoughts keep returning to you as they always will

In the morning
I’m watching and waiting to see the sun shine
And I’m feeling your presence so sweet on my mind
For I know you’re the love and the light of my life for all time

Juliana
How your name brings me awake
Like the first light of dawn
Juliana
How it comes to the heart
Like the wind from the wings of a song
Juliana
You’re my sweet heart’s desire
You’re the face of a dream I have drawn

[break]

In the evening
As the starlight invades the celestial dome
While I lie in repose in my natural home
I think of the day now behind us and how you have shone

In the evening
With the sweet orange blossoms caressing the air
I stare at the sky, and I see your face there
With the moon in your eyes and the indigo night in your hair

Juliana
How your name brings me awake
Like the first light of dawn
Juliana
How it comes to the heart
Like the wind from the wings of a song
Juliana
You’re my sweet heart’s desire
You’re the face of a dream I have drawn
You’re my sweet heart’s desire
You’re the face of a dream I have drawn

Juliana
Juliana
You’re my sweet heart’s desire
You’re the face of a dream I have drawn

Track: 5

Length: 6:08

Writers:

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Brasil, tierra buena y hermosa
De morena graciosa
De mirar tan indiscreto
O Brasil, verde quedar
Para el mundo admirar
El Brasil de mi amor
Tierra de Nuestro Señor
Brasil
Brasil, a mí

O esas palmeras murmurantes
Donde yo cuelgo mi hamaca
En noches llenas de splendor
Brasil
Brasil

O en esas fuentes cristalinas
Donde la luna va a mirarse
Donde yo mitigo mi sed
O es Brasil lindo y moreno
Es el Brasil brasilero
Tierra de samba y canciones
Brasil
Brasil, a mí a mí

O en esas fuentes cristalinas
Donde la luna va a mirarse
Donde yo mitigo mi sed
O es Brasil lindo y moreno
Es el Brasil brasilero
Tierra de samba y canciones
Brasil
Brasil, a mí
Brasil, a mí
Brasil, a mí

[Spanish lyrics from http://www.morethanweimagine.com/]

Track: 6

Length: 5:35

Writers:

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In the still of the night
As I gaze from my window
At the moon in its flight
My thoughts all stray to you

In the still of the night
While the world is in slumber
Oh, the times without number
Darling, when I say to you

Do you love me
As I love you?
Are you my life to be
My dream come true?
Or will this dream of mine
Fade out of sight
Like the moon growing dim
On the rim of the hill
In the chill, still of the night?

Track: 7

Length: 3:08

Writers:

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Here come the mountains
Here comes the sunrise
Here come the deserts
My, what a sight

Open the doorway
Open the window
Open the transom
Let in the light

Looking below me
Lifting my feet up
Into the canyons
White water runs
There is the cliff side
There is the prairie
There is the sagebrush
The heat of the sun

Rising, rising, rising up again
I’m in love again
I’m in love
It flows from my eyes
Rising, rising, rising up again
I’m in love again
I’m in love
Delight and surprise

Now I’m in Paris
Beautiful streetlamps
Beautiful subways
Beautiful light

Open the doorway
Open the window
Open the transom
Let in the sights

Something amazing
Something specific
Something terrific
Into my mind

The city, the landscapes
The absolute handshakes
The ocean, the wind shapes
Something sublime

Rising, rising, rising up again
I’m in love again
I’m in love
It flows from my eyes
Rising, rising, rising up again
I’m in love again
I’m in love
Delight and surprised

[break]

Rising, rising, rising up again
I’m in love again
I’m in love
It flows from my eyes
Rising, rising, rising up again
I’m in love again
I’m in love
Delight and surprise

Something amazing
Something specific
Something terrific
Into my mind

The city, the landscapes
The absolute handshakes
The ocean, the wind shapes
Something sublime
Something sublime
Something sublime
Something sublime

Track: 8

Length: 4:42

Writers:

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When they begin the beguine
It brings back the sound of music so tender
It brings back a night of tropical splendor
It brings back a memory evergreen

I’m with you once more under the stars
And down by the shore, an orchestra’s playing
And even the palms seem to be swaying
When they begin the beguine

To live it again
Is past all endeavor
Except when that tune
Touches my heart
And darling, there we are
Swearing to love forever
And promising never
Never to part

What moments divine, what rapture serene
Two clouds came along to disperse the joys we had tasted
And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted
I know but too well what they mean

So don’t let them begin the beguine
Let the love that was once a fire remain an ember
Let it sleep like the dead desire I only remember
When they begin the beguine

Oh no, let them begin the beguine
Make them play
’Til the stars that were there before return above you
Until you whisper to me once more, “Darling, I love you”
And we suddenly know
What heaven we’re in
When they begin the beguine

Oh yes, let them begin the beguine
Make them play
Until the stars that were there before return above you
Until you whisper to me once more, “Darling, I love you”
And we suddenly know
What heaven we’re in
When they begin the beguine
And we suddenly know
What heaven we’re in
When they begin the beguine

Track: 9

Length: 5:17

Writers:

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I am not a poet
I cannot make a rhyme
I do not know the big words
Like “spritz” and “paradigm”

I am not an artist
I cannot paint my house
I cannot chisel marble
I cannot Twist and Shout

I am not a Yankee
I have no nation state
No cosmic star connections
I cannot get a date

I am not a crook
I am not a thief
To be for me is not to be
Not to see, to see

Goodbye, goodbye, the I Am world
Goodbye, goodbye, so long
Farewell, adieu
Adieu, farewell
I have not sung this song
No, I have not sung this song

I am not the walrus
I am not The Boss
I am not the king or queen
I am not Jack Frost

I am not the singer
I am not twenty-two
I am not was, were
Be, am, is, or you

Goodbye, goodbye, the I Am world
Goodbye, goodbye, so long
Farewell, adieu
Adieu, farewell
I have not sung this song
I have not sung this song

Goodbye, goodbye, the I Am world
Goodbye, goodbye, so long
Farewell, adieu
Adieu, farewell
I have not sung this song
No, I have not sung this song
I have not sung this

Track: 10

Length: 2:44

Writers:

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One for the island
One for the majority
One for the island
One for the majority
One for the majority

One for the island
One world shining in the sun
One for the island
One world shining in the sun
One for the island (For the island)
One world shining (One world shining)

One for the island
One for the minority
One for the island
One for the minority
One for the minority

One for the island
One world shining in the sun
One for the island
One world shining in the sun
One for the island (For the island)
One world shining (One world shining)

[break]

So many nations
So many nations sing
So many nations
So many nations sing
So many nations sing (So many nations)

One for the island
One for the majority
One for the island
One for the minority
One for you and for me
One for integrity

One for the island
One world shining in the sun
One for the island
One world shining in the sun
One for the island
One world shining in the sun
One for the island (For the island)
One world shining
Shining
Shining

Track: 11

Length: 5:17

Writers:

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You and me (You and me)
In the arms (In the arms)
Of the twilight
On the trail
Making camp along the way

You and me (You and me)
In the arms (In the arms)
Of the twilight
On the trail
At rest at the end of the day

The stars overhead
With their message unsaid
The glow from the fire in our eyes (In our eyes)
The wind through the trees
A warm southern breeze
The Earth is embraced by the skies

You and me (You and me)
In the arms (In the arms)
Of the twilight
On the trail
On the trail to paradise

[break]

The night gathers in
We lazily spin
On an ocean of peaceful dreams
The great northern light
In unbridled delight
Dances the dance of kings

You and me (You and me)
In the arms (In the arms)
Of the twilight
On the trail
On the trail to paradise
On the trail to paradise

Track: 12

Length: 4:27

Writers:

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  1. Tropical Campfires (2000) (Record).